It was a new day, and the boy was now a man. Eighteen candles had now been blown out, and most of the guests had left. He spent the remaining night with Lana. As she cried, Lana broke the news and explained to Clark that her father’s house was under foreclosure and that they were going to have to move in with her cousins in Iowa. After coming up with no hopeful solution to find a way for Lana to stay, the two of them decided that they would spend this last night together as an unofficial couple (which they had always been to everyone around them). They sat hand in hand as they gazed at the starry night above with their tearful eyes.
The next morning, Clark watched from his window as the moving truck arrived. He didn’t dare say goodbye again; it was all too painful. To regain his emotions and get them under control, he put his mind back to Emil. He was intrigued to see what it was that Emil had planned for them both. Without wanting anyone else to discover his secret, he decided that this would be a great time to become who he really is and wear the suit that his mother had made. Never before did he feel so free, for there was no hiding behind thick glasses or having to be careful not to lift anything that would be impossible for mere men. With his hair slicked back, except for one stubborn curl, and behind his family crest he felt like he could finally do some good.
High in the air above, Clark heard the sounds of screaming. His telescopic vision enabled him to see four men and a young lady. He flew down to see what he could do to help.
“Hey, this don’t concern you man. Your size don’t scare us. Best mind your business before you get hurt,” said one of the men.
“Fraid I can’t let you hurt this girl now,” said one of the other men who stood in front of the young girl with his back to her.
The woman stood between a brick wall and the stranger who was trying to protect her. The three other men held either a club or a chain and were taunting the man and woman. Out of nowhere came a voice from behind the attackers. “I believe you want to give these people an apology and be on your way.”
“What the hell…hey Johnny, get a look at this guy,” said an attacker who turned to face Clark. “Didn’t know the circus was in town.”
“Hey freak show, over here!” One of the attackers swung their club at Clark’s head. Without moving an inch, Clark allowed the club to hit him. The club cracked into pieces, and Clark dusted some of the wood chips off his shoulder.
“Now that wasn’t very nice,” said Clark. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to bring you to the authorities now.”
The man and woman who were being helped couldn’t believe what they were witnessing. This guy just took a club to the head and didn’t even flinch. The man who had the club reached behind his back and pulled out a gun. “You might be able to take a club to the head, but no way you’re bulletproof.”
The woman yelled, “No please, just take my purse! I’m sorry.”
The same man yelled, “Too late for that now. These two wannabe heroes pissed me off.” He looked back at Clark and fired his weapon. He stood there with his mouth open when the bullet bounced off Clark’s chest. “What the hell are you man?”
When the other protector saw what happened, he grabbed one of the other attackers by the collar as to help out and said, “Looks like you guys are a little screwed now.” The three attackers dropped their weapons and simply gave up. They knew that though they were not out numbered, they were out matched.
Clark used the chains as make shift handcuffs until the woman came back with the police. “So, what’s your name there big fella?”
“For now, I’m just a friend,” said Clark. “What’s yours?”
“Irons. John Henry Irons, but my friends call me Steel.”
“Well, Mr. Irons, that girl owes you her life.”
Confused, Irons said, “Me? You’re the one who saved her. You saved us both.”
“Yes, well, it would have been a lot worse had you not been here first. I have to be off now. Let me know if there’s anything I can do for you.”
Irons thought for a moment and then said, “Since you be askin, there is somethin. It’s not for me, but this girl I’ve been worried about.”
“How so?”
“Well, ya see, we kind of got in some trouble some time ago. She witnessed her sister’s murder, and I helped her escape. Anyway, if you could look after her and maybe from time to time check in on her, well, that would mean a lot to me. I got a good job offer in D.C. and really don’t have the means to be checkin in on her.”
“You got a good heart Mr. Irons. What’s her name and where can I find her?” Clark asked.
“Her name is Lois, ah Lois Lane. Her father is a busy general and works in D.C.”
“Consider me her guardian angel. I want you to keep up the good work, but stay safe while you do it.”
“You got it, boss. You ain’t gonna wait for the police?” Irons asked.
“I think you could handle these thugs ‘til then.” Clark looked at him and smiled. A second later he was up in the air, “I’ll see you around, Mr. Irons.”
Irons took both hands and put them around his mouth and shouted, “Hey, the name’s Steel,” as Clark was up, up and away.
______________________________________________________________________
A man was across the street and on his phone describing the event that just took place. Before he hung up he said, “This is Todd Olsen signing off.” He paused and waiting a brief moment. “Did you get all that recorded, Bill?...good, you have to get this to channel seven. This is going to be huge! Finally, my big break. A man in a blue suit and red cape came out of the sky and just saved the lives of those two people…what?… yeah, I’m coming to the studio now. You get this over the air waves, and I’ll put it to print. I’ll be bringing my son along. He saw the whole thing with me…alright, I’ll see you in twenty.”
Todd put his phone back on his belt clip and looked down at his son. “Now aren’t you glad I gave you that camera for your birthday?”
“Yeah, dad, I never thought I’d take a picture of something like that. Can we go get these evelop now?”
Todd looked down at his son and smiled, “That’s developed, and we’re going to go to Uncle Billy’s office to an area known as the dark room. That’s where we’ll make the pictures.” Todd tried to hail a cab while his son continued to take random pictures of down town Metropolis. A cab finally stopped in front of him, and he opened the rear door. Todd shouted, “Let’s go Jimmy, we have to move it.”
They got in the cab and headed off to write the very first story that changed the world. Todd Olsen had the words, and little Jimmy Olsen captured the photo.
______________________________________________________________________
Little Jimmy was spinning in a revolving chair and pretending to be taking pictures with his now filmless camera. Todd and Bill were at opposite ends of the room talking on their telephones. A group of photos were scattered on the coffee table that was in the center of the office. Most of the photos were out of focus; however, there was one that was good enough to make the front page of any prominent news paper.
Angrily, Bill hung up the phone. “It’s no use; they won’t let me air your tape.”
Holding his hand over the receiver Todd said, “Charlie won’t even let me put it near the comics section. Wait, hold on Bill.” Todd removed his hand to speak into the phone, “yes, but C.K., I have the photo to go along with the story!” A short moment later, Todd’s voice dropped. “Yes, sir. I understand Mr. Luthor has the final say, but…”
Bill soon watched Todd place the receiver back on the hook, he then asked, “No luck, either?”
Todd stood up and yanked the phone’s cord out of the wall. He then through the handset at the opposite wall, “That freakin’ coward wouldn’t know a good story if it hit him! Charles Kennedy’s lips are glued to Luthor’s ass. Everyone’s afraid of that money loving bully. Afraid that he’ll shut everyone down.”
“Todd, come down. Your son’s sitting right there,” whispered Bill.
Todd pointed over to little Jimmy, “He knows, everyone knows! The whole world knows that Luthor is buying every corporation in Metropolis trying to get control over everything. How are we letting this man buy free speech? It’s absurd!” Todd was tired and his face was red with anger. He scooted little Jimmy off the seat and sat down himself.
“Maybe next time,” Bill said optimistically.
“Next time, next time? It’s always next time. To hell with everyone. I’m running the story.”
“Todd, this could cost you your job. No, this will cost you your job. No paper will even go near you after this. Luthor will run you straight out of Metropolis.”
“Bill…”
“No, now you listen to me. I love you Todd, but my sister is more important to me than your pipe dreams of making it big. You won’t just be screwing just your life, but her’s and Jimmy’s too.” Bill watched as Todd realized that he was right. Bill now knew that Todd had calmed down. “Now I think I may have a solution. Someone owes me a favor anyway.”
“A favor? Who?” Todd asked surprised.
“Awhile back I helped a guy run a story. He was a nobody, but needed a chance. So, I aired his story and a paper picked him up on it.”
“Yeah, which one? A heavy hitter?” Todd smiled.
“The Daily Planet.”
“Holy crap! Someone owes you a favor at the Planet? Cash this baby in, Bill.”
Bill looked regretfully at Todd, “If we do this, it has to be anonymous. My guy has to be able to say this came from a source. Not to mention that we both have signed contracts with our own media outlets.”
Todd looked at Bill as if he almost forgot about their signatures that locked them in with their current employers. “Anonymous, no problem,” Todd agreed. “The Daily Planet is one place that won’t sell any of its stock to Luthor. Say, who is your inside man anyway? Do I know him?”
“Doubt it. He’s just another reporter climbing his way up the ladder for Editor-in-Chief. His name’s Perry White. We give each other stories now and then and inside info. If I don’t get a story and he does, I’ll do some research for him to help out and vice versa. After all, we’re not exactly competitors, I’m a t.v. journalist and he, like you, is in print.”
“You’re right. The name doesn’t ring a bell,” said Todd.
“Yeah, he’s mainly at the Planet cause like I said, I helped him out with a story.” Bill thought for a moment. “My god, I still remember it. He wanted to go to Smallville to cover a meteor shower.”
Todd looked confused, “Smallville? Where the hell is that?”
“It’s here in Kansas, but further west. I actually have a cousin out there, so I let White stay with him for two days until the story was over. I ran an interview he did with one of the farmers. Ironically, it turned out to be big news with this guy because his farm was the only one unaffected by the shower. It drove in tremendous amounts of sympathy ratings. It single handedly put Smallville on the map.”
“Well I never heard of it,” laughed Todd.
“Geez Todd, you and my sister have only been living in Kansas for like five years. This story occurred almost two decades ago.”
“Whatever, Bill. Contact this Jerry fellow and get my story out there. Maybe there’s some hope for Metropolis after all.”
“If your guy in tights did what he said you did, there just might be some hope for the world. And my guy’s name is Perry.”
“Yeah, but who is he? Some local boy scout, some vigilante? Its questions like these that need to be asked. But who can get close to him, who will he let close to him?
“Who, Perry?”
“What? No, Bill. Not Perry. This guy in bright colored tights who helps the weak and rights the wrong. Bill, we need to get his name, does he even have a name? Hell, if not, we’ll give him one.”
“If you let me get a word in on all your ranting, I’ll remind you that we are technically not covering this story once White gets it out. So, let’s let White give him a name.”
“Fine with me. I just hope it’s not anything stupid like Captain Marvelous or something.”
Bill grabbed his keys and the photos that little Jimmy had taken while Todd went over and picked up the phone that he threw. “Come on, let’s get outta here.”
“Right behind you,” Todd said. “Let’s go Jimmy and don’t forget your camera.”
“Hey, you never know, maybe little Jimmy here can be this guy’s personal photographer,” Bill joked as he locked the door behind them.
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